Marking a vertical split in the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Ajit Pawar on Sunday joined the Eknath Shinde-led Maharashtra government as deputy chief minister. 

According to the PTI, Ajit Pawar, after taking oath as the deputy chief minister of Maharashtra said, “If we can go with Shiv Sena to form government then why not with BJP.” 

We extended support to Shinde government as NCP legislative party; will fight all future polls on party symbol, he said.

Ajit Pawar further said, “I resigned as Leader of Opposition on Friday, later expressed wish to work for party (NCP),” the PTI reported.

Following a massive political development in the state, Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde the different party leaders have come together to develop the state.

CM Shinde said, “There is enough time to discuss about the seat sharing in the cabinet. We have come together to develop Maharashtra. They (the opposition) got 4-5 seats in Lok Sabha elections, this time they will not manage to get even those number of seats,” reported the ANI.

After officially taking oath as the state deputy CM, Ajit Pawar also changed his Twitter bio to Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra.

“The country is progressing under the leadership of PM Modi. He is also popular in other countries. Everyone supports him and appreciates his leadership. We will fight the upcoming Lok Sabha and Assembly elections with them (BJP) and that is why we have taken this decision,” Ajit Pawar said, according to the ANI.

He said, “Today, we have decided to support the Maharashtra government and took oath as ministers. There will be a discussion on the portfolios later. Considering all aspects at the national level, we thought that we should support development.”

“Several people will criticise now a bit. We don`t give value to that and we will keep working for the progress of Maharashtra and that is why we have taken this decision. Most of our MLAs are satisfied with this. We have supported this govt. We will contest all elections in the name of NCP only,” Ajit Pawar said.

Some MLAs could not be contacted as they are out of country but I spoke to all of them and they agreed with our decision, he added.

“We took a decision to come with the Shinde-Fadanvis govt with almost all MLAs of NCP. We took oath and a few other ministers will be added in the next expansion,” he said, according to the ANI.

Meanwhile, senior NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal, who also took oath as a minister on Sunday said, “We have joined the government as its third party. Few people are saying that we have split the party but that is not correct. We have come here as NCP. We have also criticised Modi govt on many occasions but it is true that the country is safe in his hands,” the ANI reported.

“They (opposition) are saying that we are here because we have cases against us and we are under pressure. Most of us either no longer have cases against us or the investigations are underway. The Court has not taken any coercive steps against us because there is nothing concrete against us. So saying that we joined because we were under pressure is not correct,” Bhujbal said, according to the ANI.

(with PTI and Ani inputs)

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